Have You Made a Non-Human Friend Today?

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i made a silly joke but this is actually an extremely good article

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Good read. I think I agree with the premise even as I still hold a very different idea of how to interact with the natural world - one that’s probably really heavily informed by my biology/ecology background. To me it’s a connecting thing to know animals by their species. I remember a time the Ghosts and I were on a walk the year we moved here and hearing an owl calling. They took out Merlin for a species ID and we found out it was a barred owl. That moment of learning did feel to me like meeting a neighbor. I can’t talk to the owl, I don’t think I jive with animism in the same way this author does. But do think being able to forge a personal connection with your local environment and the animals that live there with you is pretty solid.

I haven’t really taken the opportunity to do so as often as I used to, and part of that is just because I don’t walk around my neighborhood as much as I used to - the area is not terribly easily walked. (Grumble grumble environmental access grumble grumble) But I do remember being a kid and befriending some trees - there was an oak sapling that grew outside my window on the neighbor’s lawn, a surprise one that sprouted after the previous giant had to be cut down to avoid damaging powerlines. That happened around 5th grade, I wanna say. So basically the tree grew up alongside me, which. Honestly ideal way to have a childhood, 10000/10 would recommend. Sadly the tree had to be cut down for basically the same reason (having sprouted directly in the same spot), but like. I loved that tree a lot. It deserved to keep growing for whoever gets the house next.

I have Additional additional urban ecology thoughts about the downsides of the classic Western tradition of viewing nature as separate from areas of human habitation but that’s for potentially another post.

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